Re: XSL and document transformations for XML accessibility

This discussion is losing sight of the forest while
wandering around the trees.

An XML document in general will have far richer information
than an HTML 4.0 document.

I think it is a wasteful exercise to speculate on how one
would transform an XML document to an HTML 4.0 document in
the name of accessibility since a Braille or audio style
sheet (especially an aural style sheet)
will do much much better with the richer tagging available
in the XML document.

This said, the rest of the world will probably do the XML ->
html4.0 transform one way or the other simply to be able to
quickly display XML documents.

This said, just because ICADD projected documents down to a
very simple DTD in the name of accessibility doesn't mean
that that was either completely correct
or the right way to proceed.

Keep in mind that ICADD in its design was primarily
motivated on designing a DTD that would allow electronic
documents to be converted to a fairly simple minded etext
format for reading with screenreaders or for translation to
a simple Braille scheme.

Things like tree transformation are powerful ideas and
whatever XSL provides in this area will help us produce much
more usable presentations for all.

However, it would be detrimental to focus on projecting rich
information structure to any given DTD --ICADD, HTML4.0 or
whatever else.

Each of those systems are dated in their own right and
contain design compromises that newer systems should not try
to  drag along.

So in summary think of XML/XSL in its own right rather than
trying to limit the design by what has gone before.

-- 
Best Regards,
--raman

      Adobe Systems                 Tel: 1 (408) 536 3945   (W14-129)
      Advanced Technology Group     Fax: 1 (408) 537 4042 
      (W14 129) 345 Park Avenue     Email: raman@adobe.com 
      San Jose , CA 95110 -2704     Email:  raman@cs.cornell.edu
      http://labrador.corp.adobe.com/~raman/        (Adobe Intranet)
      http://cs.cornell.edu/home/raman/raman.html    (Cornell)
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    Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are my own and in no way should be taken
as representative of my employer, Adobe Systems Inc.
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Received on Wednesday, 26 November 1997 10:57:44 UTC